Categories

Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle sent me a copy of their excellect film on mountaintop removal, Goodbye Gauley Mountain.” Unlike any of the other films on the subject, they used sexuality as a tool to express their deep feelings for the mountains of Appalachia.

2pm When Comedy Went to School (USA, 2013, 83 minutes, documentary) The birth of modern stand-up comedy began in the Catskill Mountains – a boot camp for the greatest generation of Jewish-American comedians. “…mines the rich history of borscht belt entertainment” NY Times

3:30pm The Other Son (France & Israel, 2012, 105 minutes, drama) Two young men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, discover they were accidentally switched at birth. “The significance of this parable is there to be seen…” Ebert

Kathy Bisbee presented her new film, “Don’t Cost Nothin to Dream” to a full house on Sunday, December 1 at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston. It was a nice documentary, most filmed in Cuba, about young people and their artistic dreams.

West Virginia FILMmakers Announces Line Up for
14th Annual Festival, October 4 – 6, 2013

SUTTON, W.Va. – The 14th Annual West Virginia FILMmakers Festival, which will be held in Sutton’s Elk Theatre the weekend of Oct. 4-6, has released its film line-up.

“The big news this year is that we opened submissions up for films worldwide, and received 94 submissions from around the globe,” festival director Caitlin Renée Campbell said. “We have films screening this year from the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Korea, Denmark, Japan, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Spain and The Netherlands. We have 58 films screening this year, 13 films with English subtitles, fascinating documentaries and 11 animations to name a few. I have been really impressed with the quality of films submitted. ”

The Festival kicks off Friday, October 4, at 6 p.m. The Friday night feature, shot in Pittsburgh and Braxton County, will be WV FILMmaker Charlie Cline’s “Squid Man,” at 8 p.m. On Saturday, October 5, WV FILMmaker David Smith’s “Ladybeard,” shot in the Kanawha Valley, will screen at 9:30 p.m. Each evening will wrap up with the FILMmaker Party at the Film Center with live music Friday night from Wager and Saturday night from The Ultimatums.

“This year, as in the past, we will select a West Virginia Filmmaker of the Year,” Campbell said. The Filmmaker of the Year will be announced at the Wine & Cheese Awards Ceremony at 5 p.m. at the Landmark Center for the Arts.

The Festival Schedule in its entirety and more information on filmmaking seminars and activities are available at the festival’s website, https://sites.google.com/site/wvfilmmakersfest/home, or by email at: information@wvfilmmakersfestival.org. To book accommodations, call the Days Hotel at 866-700-7284, and request the ‘Filmmakers Special’ (includes breakfast).

The West Virginia FILMmakers Festival will be held the same weekend as the Sutton Fall Festival. Find out more about the Sutton Fall Festival at: https://sites.google.com/site/fallfestivalsutton/home.

A new generation has taken over the Sutton-based film festival. Check it out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WVfilmfest/info. They have previewed almost 100 new films for this year’s festival, lead by Caitlin Campbell .

Categories

Ken Hechler, WV’s leading political statesman, will turn 99 this week – September 20th. He is the oldest living person who has served in Congress. It’s hard to think of the history of this state since WWII without the career of Ken, both in Congress and as WV Secretary of State. He has also been a prolific teacher and writer during his 50+ years in the state. Congrats to Ken and everyone who has supported him during his long career fighting for the people of his adopted state of WV. You can watch Russ Barbour’s feature documentary about Ken, “Ken Hechler – In Pursuit of Justice,” on YouTube. There are many other clips with him there also.

Categories

I finally saw the new film “Oxyana” about drugs in Oceana, Wyoming County, WV. It was thoughtfully done, with great music and interviews. However, I wish there had been subtitles because many of the interviewees were hard to understand. The Kanawha County Public Library has two copies of it so it’s available free. It is also available to purchase.

Categories

We attended the world premiere of the much-anticipated WV-made film, “Angel’s Perch,” at the WVSU Capitol-Plaza Theater on Sunday, June 23 at 7 PM. It was a full-house of people who really enjoyed the film made mostly in Cass, WV. The crowd clapped from opening to closing credits which included a long list of sponsors.